I appreciated the previous iterations of this review. Trying to encourage more of the same

We are located in 175 Territories:

⚡ THESE ARE OUR BEST -

Vegan Los Angeles California - 6,500 members

Stats Past 28 Days: 1,491 Comments, 3,237 Reactions, 3,461 "Active" Members, 1,500 to 2,000 Daily Visitors, 237 Posts. Average Post 50 to 150+ comments each.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/Vegan.Los.Angeles

Beijing China Vegan - 4,000 members

The Capital of the Country of China.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/Beijing.China.Vegan

Vegan Houston - 5,500 members

https://www.facebook.com/groups/Vegan.Houstin.TX

Vegan Boston Massachusetts - 6,000 members

https://www.facebook.com/groups/Vegan.Boston.Massachusetts

Vegan Denver Colorado - 3,500 members

https://www.facebook.com/groups/Vegan.Denver.Colorado

Vegan Colorado Springs CO - 4,000 members

https://www.facebook.com/groups/Vegan.Colorado.Springs.CO

Vegan Raleigh NC - 3,000 members

https://www.facebook.com/groups/Vegan.Raleigh.NC

Vegan Louisville KY - 3,000 members

https://www.facebook.com/groups/Vegan.Louisville.KY

Vegan Charlotte NC - 3,000 members

https://www.facebook.com/groups/Vegan.Charlotte.NC

Berlin Germany Vegan - 2,500 members

https://www.facebook.com/groups/Berlin.Germany.Vegan

Vegan Washington DC - 2,500 members

https://www.facebook.com/groups/Vegan.Washington.DC

Vegan Atlanta GA - 2,000 members

https://www.facebook.com/groups/Vegan.Atlanta.GA

Vegan Minneapolis MN - 2,000 members

https://www.facebook.com/groups/Vegan.Minneapolis.MN

Vegan San Antonio TX - 2,000 members

https://www.facebook.com/groups/Vegan.San.Antonio

Vegan Austin TX - 1 ,000 members

https://www.facebook.com/groups/Vegan.Austin.TX

Vegan Phoenix AZ - 2,000 members

https://www.facebook.com/groups/Vegan.Phoenix.AZ

Vegan Philadelphia - 2,500 members

https://www.facebook.com/groups/Vegan.Philadelphia

Vegan Omaha NE - 1,000 members

https://www.facebook.com/groups/Vegan.Omaha.NE

Vegan San Francisco - 1,000 members

https://www.facebook.com/groups/Vegan.San.Francisco

Vegan Miami FL - 2,000 members

https://www.facebook.com/groups/Vegan.Miami.FL

Vegan Las Vegas - 3,500 members

https://www.facebook.com/groups/Vegan.Las.Vegas

Vegan Chicago - 3,500 members

https://www.facebook.com/groups/Vegan.Chicago

Vegan New York City - 4,500 members

www.facebook.com/groups/Vegan.New.York.City

+ And 200 More - http://www.LaserLightShow.ORG/Vegan-Facebook-Groups

---------------

⚡ MASTER LIST -

⚡ USA GROUPS

Vegan Alabama

www.facebook.com/groups/Vegan.in.Alabama

Vegan Alaska

www.facebook.com/groups/Vegan.in.Alaska

Vegan Arkansas

www.facebook.com/groups/Vegan.in.Arkansas

Vegan Arizona

www.facebook.com/groups/Vegan.in.Arizona

Vegan Mesa AZ

www.facebook.com/groups/Vegan.Mesa.AZ

Vegan Phoenix AZ (2,000 members)

www.facebook.com/groups/Vegan.Phoenix.AZ

Vegan Tucson AZ

www.facebook.com/groups/Vegan.Tucson.NM

California Vegan

www.facebook.com/groups/California.Vegan

Vegan Fresno California

www.facebook.com/groups/Vegan.Fresno.California

Vegan Long Beach California

www.facebook.com/groups/Vegan.Long.Beach.California

Vegan Los Angeles California (6,500 members)

www.facebook.com/groups/Vegan.Los.Angeles

Vegan Oakland California

www.facebook.com/groups/Oaklnad.California.Vegan

Vegan Sacramento California

www.facebook.com/groups/Vegan.Sacramento.California

Vegan San Diego

www.facebook.com/groups/Vegan.San.Diego

Vegan San Francisco

www.facebook.com/groups/Vegan.San.Francisco

Vegan Colorado Springs CO (3,500 members)

www.facebook.com/groups/Vegan.Colorado.Springs.CO

Vegan Denver Colorado (3,500 members)

www.facebook.com/groups/Vegan.Denver.Colorado

Vegan Washington DC (2,500 members)

www.facebook.com/groups/Vegan.Washington.DC

Vegan Jacksonville FL

www.facebook.com/groups/Vegan.Jacksonville.FL

Vegan Miami FL (2,000 members)

www.facebook.com/groups/Vegan.Miami.FL

Vegan Atlanta GA (2,000 members)

www.facebook.com/groups/Vegan.Atlanta.GA

Vegan Chicago IL (3,500 members)

www.facebook.com/groups/Vegan.Chicago

Vegan Indianapolis

www.facebook.com/groups/Vegan.Indianapolis

Vegan Wichita KS

www.facebook.com/groups/Vegan.Wichita.KS

Vegan Louisville KY (2,500 members)

www.facebook.com/groups/Vegan.Louisville.KY

Vegan Baltimore MD

www.facebook.com/groups/Vegan.Baltimore.MD

Vegan Boston Massachusetts (6,500 members)

www.facebook.com/groups/Vegan.Boston.Massachusetts

Vegan Detroit MI

www.facebook.com/groups/Vegan.Detroit

Vegan Minneapolis MN (2,000 members)

www.facebook.com/groups/Vegan.Minneapolis.MN

Vegan Kansas City MO

www.facebook.com/groups/Vegan.Kansa.City.MO

Vegan New York City (4,500 members)

www.facebook.com/groups/Vegan.New.York.City

Vegan Las Vegas (3,500 members)

www.facebook.com/groups/Vegan.Las.Vegas

Vegan Albuquerque NM

https://www.facebook.com/groups/Vegan.Albuquerque.NM

Vegan Omaha NE

www.facebook.com/groups/Vegan.Omaha.NE

Vegan Charlotte NC (2,000 members)

www.facebook.com/groups/Vegan.Charlotte.NC

Vegan Raleigh NC (3,000 members)

www.facebook.com/groups/Vegan.Raleigh.NC

Vegan Cleveland OH

www.facebook.com/groups/Vegan.Cleavland.OH

Vegan Columbus OH

www.facebook.com/groups/Vegan.Columbus.OH

Vegan Oklahoma City OK

www.facebook.com/groups/Vegan.Oklahoma.City

Vegan Tulsa OK

www.facebook.com/groups/Vegan.Tulsa.OK

Vegan Portland OR

www.facebook.com/groups/Vegan.Portland.OR

Vegan Philadelphia PA (2,500 members)

www.facebook.com/groups/Vegan.Philadelphia

Vegan Memphis TN

www.facebook.com/groups/Vegan.Memphis.TN

Vegan Nashville TN

www.facebook.com/groups/Vegan.Nashville.TN

Vegan Texas

www.facebook.com/groups/Vegan.Texas

Vegan Arlington Texas

www.facebook.com/groups/Vegan.Arlington.TX

Vegan Austin TX (2,000 members)

www.facebook.com/groups/Vegan.Austin.TX

Vegan Dallas TX

www.facebook.com/groups/Vegan.Dallas

Vegan El Paso TX

www.facebook.com/groups/Vegan.El.Paso.TX

Vegan Fort Worth TX

www.facebook.com/groups/Vegan.Fort.Worth.Texas

Vegan Houston Texas (5,500 members)

www.facebook.com/groups/Vegan.Houstin.TX

Vegan San Antonio Texas (2,000 members)

www.facebook.com/groups/Vegan.San.Antonio

Vegan Virginia Beach VA

www.facebook.com/groups/Vegan.Virginia.Beach.VA

Vegan Seattle Washington

www.facebook.com/groups/Vegan.Seattle.Washington

Vegan Milwaukee WI

www.facebook.com/groups/Vegan.Milwaukee.WI

---------

⚡ AFRICA

Luanda Angolia Vegan

www.facebook.com/groups/Luanda.Angolia.Vegan

Kinshasa Congo Vegan

www.facebook.com/groups/Kinshasa.Congo.Vegan

Durban South Africa Vegan

www.facebook.com/groups/Durban.South.Africa.Vegan

Alexandria Egypt Vegan (16,000 members)

www.facebook.com/groups/Alexandria.Egypt.Vegan

Cairo Egypt Vegan

www.facebook.com/groups/Cairo.Egypt.Vegan

Giza Egypt Vegan

www.facebook.com/groups/Giza.Egypt.Vegan

Addis Ababa Ethiopia Vegan (1,000 members)

www.facebook.com/groups/Addis.Ababa.Ethiopia.Vegan

Abidjan Ivory Coast Vegan

www.facebook.com/groups/Abidjan.Ivory.Coast.Vegan

Nairobi Kenya Vegan

www.facebook.com/groups/Nairobi.Kenya.Vegan

Lagos Nigeria Vegan

www.facebook.com/groups/Lagos.Nigeria.Vegan

Cape Town South Africa Vegan (1,000 members)

www.facebook.com/groups/Cape.Town.South.Africa.Vegan

Ekurhuleni South Africa Vegan

www.facebook.com/groups/733324533442350

Johannesburg South Africa Vegan

www.facebook.com/groups/Johannesburg.South.Africa.Vegan

Dar Es Salaam Tanzania Vegan (7,500 members)

www.facebook.com/groups/Dar.Es.Salaam.Tanzania.Vegan

------

⚡ ASIA

Keep in Mind, Facebook is banned in the Country of China. So, that means I have 5,500+ people in China breaking the law, just to find out where to go to eat.

Beijing China Vegan (4,000 members)

www.facebook.com/groups/Beijing.China.Vegan

Chengdu China Vegan

www.facebook.com/groups/Chengdu.China.Vegan

Chongqing China Vegan

www.facebook.com/groups/Chongqing.China.Vegan

Dongguan China Vegan

www.facebook.com/groups/Dongguan.China.Vegan

Foshan China Vegan

www.facebook.com/groups/Foshan.China.Vegan

Guangzhou China Vegan (500 members)

www.facebook.com/groups/Guangzhou.China.Vegan

Hong Kong China Vegan

www.facebook.com/groups/Hong.Kong.China.Vegan

Nanjing China Vegan

www.facebook.com/groups/Nanjing.China.Vegan

Shanghai China Vegan

www.facebook.com/groups/Shanghi.China.Vegan

Shantou China Vegan

www.facebook.com/groups/Shantou.China.Vegan

Shenzhen China Vegan (1,000 members)

www.facebook.com/groups/Shenzhen.China.Vegan

Suzhou China Vegan

www.facebook.com/groups/Suzhou.China.Vegan

Tianjin China Vegan

www.facebook.com/groups/Tianjin.China.Vegan

Wuhan China Vegan

www.facebook.com/groups/Wuhan.China.Vegan

Xi'an China Vegan

www.facebook.com/groups/Xian.China.Vegan

Tokyo Japan Vegan

www.facebook.com/groups/Tokyo.Japan.Vegan

Yokohama Japan Vegan

www.facebook.com/groups/Yokohama.Japan.Vegan

Pyongyang North Korea Vegan

www.facebook.com/groups/Pyongyang.North.Korea.Vegan

Busan South Korea Vegan (500 members)

www.facebook.com/groups/Busan.South.Korea.Vegan

Seoul Korea Vegan

www.facebook.com/groups/Seoul.Korea.Vegan

Singapore Vegan (500 members)

www.facebook.com/groups/Singapore.Vegan

Taipei Taiwan Vegan

www.facebook.com/groups/Taipei.Taiwan.Vegan

⚡ CENTRAL AMERICA

Cancun Mexico Vegan

www.facebook.com/groups/Cancun.Mexico.Vegan

Mexico City Mexico Vegan

www.facebook.com/groups/Mexico.City.Mexico.Vegan

-----------

⚡ EUROPE

London England Vegan

www.facebook.com/groups/London.England.Vegan

Berlin Germany Vegan (7,000 members)

www.facebook.com/groups/Berlin.Germany.Vegan

Madrid Spain Vegan

www.facebook.com/groups/Madrid.Spain.Vegan

-------

⚡ INDIA

Ahmedabad India Vegan

www.facebook.com/groups/Ahmeddabad.India.Vegan

Bdhaka Bangladesh Vegan

www.facebook.com/groups/Dhaka.Bangladesh.Vegan

Bengaluru India Vegan Bangalore

www.facebook.com/groups/Bengauru.India.Vegan

Chennai India Vegan (1,000 members)

www.facebook.com/groups/Chennai.India.Vegan

Delhi India Vegan

www.facebook.com/groups/Delhi.India.Vegan

Hyderabad India Vegan

www.facebook.com/groups/Hyderabad.India.Vegan

Jaipur India Vegan

www.facebook.com/groups/Jaipur.India.Vegan

Kolkata India Vegan

www.facebook.com/groups/Kolkata.India.Vegan

Mumbai India Vegan

www.facebook.com/groups/Mumbai.India.Vegan

Pune India Vegan

www.facebook.com/groups/PuneIndiaVegan

Surat India Vegan

www.facebook.com/groups/Surat.India.Vegan

----------------

⚡ MIDDLE EAST

Tehran Iran Vegan

www.facebook.com/groups/Tehran.Iran.Vegan

Baghdad Iraq Vegan

www.facebook.com/groups/Baghdad.Iraq.Vegan

Jeddah Saudi Arabia Vegan

www.facebook.com/groups/Jeddah.Saudi.Arabia.Vegan

Riyadh Saudi Arabia Vegan

www.facebook.com/groups/Riyadh.Saudi.Arabia.Vegan

Ankara Turkey Vegan

www.facebook.com/groups/Ankara.Turkey.Vegan

Istanbul Turkey Vegan

www.facebook.com/groups/Istanbul.Turkey.Vegan

------------------

⚡ South America

Bogota Colombia Vegan

www.facebook.com/groups/Bogota.Colombia.Vegan

Sao Paulo Brazil Vegan

www.facebook.com/groups/Sao.Paulo.Brazil.Vegan

Rio De Janeiro Brazil Vegan

www.facebook.com/groups/Rio.De.Janeiro.Brazil.Vegan

Lima Peru Vegan

www.facebook.com/groups/Lima.Peru.Vegan

Santiago Chile Vegan

www.facebook.com/groups/Santiago.Chile.Vegan

---------------

⚡ SOUTH ASIA

Kabul Afghanistan Vegan

www.facebook.com/groups/Kabul.Afghanistan.Vegan

Yangon Burma Vegan

www.facebook.com/groups/Yangon.Burma.Vegan

Jakarta Indonesia Vegan

www.facebook.com/groups/Jakarta.Indonesia.Vegan

Karachi Pakistan Vegan

www.facebook.com/groups/Karachi.Pakistan.Vegan

Lahore Pakistan Vegan

www.facebook.com/groups/Lahore.Pakistan.Vegan

Bangkok Thailand Vegan

www.facebook.com/groups/Bangkook.Thailand.Vegan

Hanoi Vietnam Vegan

www.facebook.com/groups/Hanoi.Vietnam.Vegan

Ho Chi Minh Vietnam Vegan

www.facebook.com/groups/Ho.Chi.Minh.Vietnam.Vegan

---------

⚡ RUSSIA

Moscow Russia Vegan

www.facebook.com/groups/Moscow.Russia.Vegan

Saint Petersburg Russia Vegan

www.facebook.com/groups/Saint.Petersburg.Russia.Vegan

Looks promising. Love the selection of interviewees. I think we need more documentaries like this about topics related to AI safety.
Looking forward to seeing the finished documentary!

I think meta-discourse about the EA movement from a principles-first perspective is valuable. I'd be keen to hear your ideas about how EA could evolve in the future!

I think collections like this add significant value to newcomers to the field, mostly by being a list of all areas worth maybe thinking about, and key links (rather than eg by providing a lot of takes on which areas are more or less important, unless the author has excellent taste). Gavin has convinced me that the previous post gets enough traffic for it be valuable to be kept up to date.

I'm not super convinced that a ton has changed since 2023, but enough has to be worth at least some updating, so I'm funding the MVP version (I expect this to have more errors than higher funding, but for these to largely be found in the comments, and even higher funding would still have errors). I'd be fine to see others funding it higher though

We also have 26 subscribers to our newsletter: https://bit.ly/forecastingmeetupnetwork

What progress have you made since your last update?

We hosted our September meetup! We had 18 people from the EA community, rationality community, Manifund users, a Polymarket employee, and individuals in the political gambling space.

We collected feedback via a survey afterward asking attendees to forecast their likelihood of coming to a future meetup - of the 3 individuals who responded, one said 85% and two others said 70%.

Pratik recorded and published a podcast episode where he interviewed me about how to organize a forecasting meetup (Apple Podcasts, Spotify).

Pratik and I finalized the details for our October meetup, which will take place tomorrow, Tuesday, October 29th at 6pm. We'll be spending the bulk of our funding from Manifund to cater the event with a pizza, salad, and dessert buffet, as well as beer, wine, and soft drinks. We also have a guest speaker lined up to discuss political forecasting. More details and RSVP here: https://partiful.com/e/ITHDAcznT1DppUXD2p9x

We met with Stephen Grugett about potential sponsorship from Manifold for future events. We have written a proposal we'll be sharing with him to see if we can come to an agreed sponsorship deal.

Finally, we got interest from an individual in Boston who may be interested in starting a forecasting meetup chapter there. He hosted a forecasting meetup on Thu, Oct 24th under the ACX banneer that seemed to go well.

What are your next steps?

Host the October meetup tomorrow and schedule and plan a November/December meetup.

Align with Stephen on a sponsorship agreement with Manifold for mid-term funding of the DC meetup group.

Is there anything others could help you with?

Continued funding/sponsorship to help us secure private venues in the future for meetups and/or sponsor food for attendees.

Great initiative, I'd like to see how it evolves.

@manifund

This funding should be ceased as the proposer (ampdot) has been donated 40M tokens in a meme coin called $ACT, and has already sold off over $240k USD, despite community calls to not sell these tokens and vest it in a linear schedule. The funds raised through the sale of the memecoins should be put towards this manifund rather than sitting in his personal blockchain wallet.

Ampdot's remaining holdings are still valued at over 1M USD at the time of writing.

The tokens are stored in ampdot's publicly available solana address here

3DrUWhsaxJcGkf5XkrQNCQfCDmJnVxHitz31UvNkqPUL

Many investors have lost substantial funds because ampdot shared and endorsed the memecoin to collect funds, but then subsequently acted hostile towards the community by selling large sums of donated tokens and closing off dialogue. The price of the token plummeted over 80% from its all-time-highs.

https://x.com/MacroCRG/status/1849758888758743531

He has since re-commenced dialogue with the community to prop up the price of the token, while simultaneously and continuously selling the token, thereby draining the liquidity from community raised funds and manipulating the market. Many in the community feel that his behavior has been highly unethical.

Solana address listed on X

https://x.com/amplifiedamp/bio

Admitting to irresponsible raising of funds

https://x.com/amplifiedamp/status/1848398842972295247

Tweet recognizing receipt of funding from the community

https://x.com/amplifiedamp/status/1848199390483345788

A token donation to signal my support for this and my continued support for your work more generally.

The previews and outline seem very impressive so I expect this may be impactful and I'm looking forward to watching it.

I find the point about this becoming a reference is the most compelling:

The AlphaGo documentary remains relevant through capturing a watershed moment for capabilities progress / hints to mainstream safety concerns, despite the significance of the object-level capabilities/technology waning.

Similarly I could imagine a lot of value from this project materialising 2+ years out, in a world that (hopefully) sees increasing momentum and broader public attention and discourse around safety policies. This documentary could lend credibility by capturing the seminal/bellwether event and frame for future conversations.

I'm very excited to fund this project!

• Important subject: SB 1047 was very high profile, generating a lot of discourse on how AI policy should be set. Even though it didn't pass, capturing that knowledge and sharing it seems very impactful, to inform how we as a society approach future bills.

• Great interviewees: I'm impressed that Michael has recorded footage with so many of the main characters of SB 1047: sponsors, proponents and opponents alike. I recognize and follow many of these folks, and am looking forward to seeing them speak on camera.

• Rewarding initiative: Michael saw this opportunity and then just started making it happen, without waiting for funding or approval from grantmakers. In doing so, he's taken on some financial risk, forgoing 2 months of pay and funding expenses out-of-pocket. He's now asking for retro funding, which I am very happy to pay down; I want to encourage a norm of doing awesome, ambitious things without waiting for permission.

  • I think the salary he's asking for is very modest, especially given his opportunity costs and the uncertainties/downtime involved with temp work.

• Investing in video: EA and AI Safety have historically been very good at communicating its message through longform essays (see: 80k, LW/EA Forum), decently through podcasts, but fairly weakly through videos. Funding this is also an investment in building up our capacity to produce more high-quality video content in the future.

My main concerns:

• Interest in SB 1047 might already be fading, and will probably drop even more as things happen in AI and AI policy. (This is part of why I'm pushing Michael to get out the documentary ASAP). Video production can take a long time, and any delays will reduce the reach and impact of this documentary.

• I'm not very sure what makes a video "good". At a glance, the quality of the production and the quality of speakers seem very high; but will the video itself be interesting? Will it be informative? I'm personally not well placed to evaluate this.

• Perhaps clips/shortform videos optimized for Twitter/YT shorts/Tiktok would be a better use of this material. Eg I don't have time to watch many Dwarkesh videos, but the short clips are great. Perhaps worth doing both!

(Conflicts of interest: Rachel Shu is my housemate and has done videography for Manifest; Michael has crashed in our guest room while filming this)

if you can throw 5k at literal nonsense, you can cover my minimum. @mdickens

Updates on all the exciting stuff that has happened at LIC lately:

• Legal Impact for Chickens commissioned an undercover investigation of poultry giant Foster Farms. Foster Farms is the largest poultry producer in California. The investigation was released on October 7, 2024 by animal protection charity Animal Outlook (AO). The undercover investigator caught Foster Farms driving forklifts over chickens, throwing them, and kicking them. Animal cruelty is a crime. So AO has presented the video and legal analysis to the Fresno County District Attorney’s office and is requesting criminal animal cruelty charges. On October 11, 2024, the Fresno Bee reported: “Fresno County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Tony Botti said detectives launched an investigation recently and it remains an ongoing case.” Foster Farms also reportedly released a statement that, as a result of the LIC-sponsored investigation, Foster Farms had “‘implemented’” new animal-welfare procedures. These reportedly included companywide animal welfare training, creating a new chief animal welfare officer role and new animal welfare director roles, and “[i]ncreased” animal welfare audits and Professional Animal Auditor Certification Organization (PAACO) staff.

• On September 30, 2024, Legal Impact for Chickens filed an animal-cruelty suit against Alexandre Family Farm for pouring salt into cows’ eyes, dragging disabled animals across concrete, starving cattle, and more. The well-known dairy has several thousand cattle and sells its milk at Whole Foods. But an April 2024 exposé by animal-welfare charity Farm Forward revealed “systemic deception, cruelty, and animal abuse” at Alexandre. Farm Forward put the exposé together with the help of rancher whistleblowers. LIC filed its complaint in Humboldt County Superior Court. LIC seeks an injunction to protect Alexandre’s cattle.

• The food known as “foie gras” comes from dangerously force-feeding a duck or a goose. A duck foie gras producer will shove a tube down each ducks’s throat three times a day over nearly three weeks. This forces the duck to ingest so much food that his liver grows up to ten times its usual size. As a result, the liver reaches a diseased state, increasing the bird’s mortality risks. On August 10, 2023, LIC thus contacted a San Francisco caterer to demand that the company “permanently stop selling foie gras.” The caterer responded immediately, and agreed to remove this cruel dish from its menu! Then, on July 30, 2024, LIC sent a cease-and-desist letter to DC butcher shop Harvey’s Market on behalf of LIC’s client, Animal Outlook. The letter demanded that Harvey’s Market stop labeling its foie gras as “humanely raised.” But Harvey’s Market stated that it has no plans to change anything. So, on October 15, 2024, LIC filed a lawsuit against Harvey’s Market in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, on behalf of Animal Outlook. The complaint alleges that this type of misleading advertising violates the District of Columbia Consumer Protection Procedures Act.

• On August 1, 2024, LIC filed the record in our Case Farms lawsuit. And on September 3, 2024, LIC filed its opening appellate brief. LIC’s brief explains: “[O]ur law declares Defendants’ animal cruelty unlawful. Our law . . . says how animals must be slaughtered—and boiling them alive is not a legal way to slaughter animals. 9 C.F.R. § 381.65; Treatment of Live Poultry Before Slaughter, 70 Fed. Reg. 56624-01, 56625 (Sept. 28, 2005). The law also prohibits abusing animals. Negligently killing or abusing an animal is criminal.” Since then, farming groups, veterinarians, and a North Carolina animal rescue have all weighed in to stand up for birds. The Northeast Organic Dairy Producers Alliance, The Cornucopia Institute, and Food Animal Concerns Trust moved together to submit an amicus brief. The farming groups’ brief states: “Defendants’ alleged conduct is not only unethical, but completely contrary to the professional standards of modern poultry farming.” Former North Carolina appellate judge Hon. Lucy Inman represents these three amici. North Carolina veterinarian Dr. Laura Cochrane, DVM, forensic veterinarian Dr. Martha Smith-Blackmore, DVM, and North Carolina nonprofit DEGA Mobile Veterinary Care moved together to submit a second amicus brief. The veterinarians’ brief states: “North Carolina takes animal cruelty seriously.” North Carolina appellate attorney Michael G. Schietzelt and colleague Luke Taylor represent the three veterinary amici. North Carolina animal rescue Beautiful Together also moved to submit an amicus brief. Beautiful Together’s brief states: “Legal Impact for Chicken’s complaint alleges shocking atrocities that, if committed against a dog or cat, would merit universal condemnation.” North Carolina appellate specialist Christopher S. Edwards represents Beautiful Together.

How do you plan on finding an audience? (Sounds like MTurk or something?) And how do you determine which messages are more successful than others?

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

I chose to donate through Manifund instead of directly to PauseAI, even though it was kind of a pain, because I believe Manifund is providing a useful service. The grant requests that orgs submit through Manifund tend to have valuable information that 's not included on their websites or in fundraising materials. Manifund is doing a good job of eliciting decision-relevant info that I can't get elsewhere.

@mdickens what risk? it'll be playing pokemon. showing growing up, showing people what's possible, etc.. but before physical embodiment,and possibly even after, we're doing the VR thing. should probably mention that in the post... however, there's nothing really about this that would do... whatever you're claiming. and even if it were, are you going to pick corporations over someone who'd care about their work, whether they're actually parrots or not?

Push through elections

Attempting to build AGI is a bad idea because it increases extinction risk. I would strongly recommend against funding this.

@Loppukilpailija Thanks!

EA Philippines has had quite a number of developments so far! After spending the first quarter of the year on fundraising, EA PH began operations in April. Below is a quick funding update, the main progress we’ve had so far, and what our next steps will be.

Funding update

EA Philippines was fortunate to have filled its funding gap of $43,000 earlier this year. You can take a look at our budget here.

EA Philippines' current funding as of October 16, 2024:

• Meta Charity Funders: ~Php1,262,500

• Individual Donations: ~Php204,500

• CEA Group Support Funding: ~ Php 395,000

Total amount raised: ~Php3,124,500

Total minimum funding goal: ~Php 1,606,700

Total preferred funding goal: ~Php 2,566,000

This means we’ve currently covered ~123.9% of our preferred funding goal.

What progress have you made since your last update?

1. EA Philippines ran its Introductory Fellowship from August 10 to September 21. We sought out members in the community who could help in running the program and were able to get 2 program organizers and 2 volunteers.

   1. 30 onboarded fellows with 60% of them completing and graduating from the program. This program had a 4/5 overall event feedback rating.

   2. We are still in the middle of assessing the outcomes of this program.

2. Helped in the creation of the first Philippine EA group outside of Metro Manila, EA Davao. EA Davao currently has over 10 members and is headed by Hanie Guiamadil, a student from Ateneo de Davao University. They are in the process of seeking funding and building the community in the Mindanao region.

3. Ran 3 “Organization Series” events. This is a series of talks where local EA-aligned organizations share about their updates, best practices, and what it's like working in such an organization.

   1. The first talk was for organizations working on Global Health and Development. We had speakers from Phlourish and Healthy Futures Global.

   2. The second talk was for our community-building organizations. It featured speakers from EA Blue, EA UPD, EA Taft, and EA Davao.

   3. The third talk was to hear from organizations working on Animal Welfare and Alternative Proteins. We had speakers from Animal Empathy Philippines and Paro Institute. 

4. In the process of hiring a third person. At present, EA Philippines is currently limited by work capacity and manpower. Sam and Zian are both operating at 0.5 FTE each. With this in mind, hiring a third person can help provide additional support for necessary activities such as organizing events, curating learning materials/resources, supporting communications efforts, etc.

5. Conducted a mid-year community survey. The goal of this survey is to better understand the community, focus on doing more things that are relevant to it, and recalibrate our strategy accordingly.

   1. You can see the EA Philippines Mid-Year Community Survey Report here.

What are your next steps?

1. Adjust programs, events, and operations to better address needs expressed in the community survey.

   1. Refurbishment and better utilization of the Effective Altruism Philippines website

   2. Improved dissemination of information

   3. Providing more opportunities for volunteers to help out 

   4. Organizing more diverse, one-off events

   5. Updating community health guidelines and code of conduct 

2. Continuation of “Organization Series”. 

   1. A talk showcasing WhiteBox Research and Condor Camp SEA, local organizations working in AI Safety.

   2. The final talk of the organization series for “Office Hours” is to hear from members who are working in EA or EA-aligned organizations.

3. In-depth fellowship preparation.

Is there anything others could help you with?

Several community members have expressed an interest in EA Philippines running a mentorship program (pairing mentors with mentees), but previous efforts to establish something like this have proven unsuccessful or have not run for very long. Advise from groups that do this or have suggestions on how to go about this would be great!